Milan theater group to host 'All Childish Things'

Tuesday

The May 31-June 17 production tells the story of three "Star Wars" fans and a misadventure.

In the not too distant future in a theater not too far, far away, Roustabout Theatre Troupe will pay homage to the iconic film series “Star Wars” with its latest production.

The Milan-based company will begin staging “All Childish Things” on May 31 at the Dennis McComb Performing Arts Center at Milan High School. The show will run through June 17.

The play will be the troupe’s first fully staged production, said Joseph Zettelmaier of Milan, Roustabout’s executive director and the playwright behind the script. It features a full cast, costumes and sound and set design.

“A full production has always been our goal,” Zettelmaier said. “It’s bigger on every scale.”

The troupe has performed various staged readings since it formed nearly two years ago, including the annual Crooked Tree Play Festival in downtown Milan. The transition to a full production is part of the troupe’s planned future, Zettelmaier said. “All Childish Things” is set in Cincinnati, Ohio, and follows three lifelong friends who decide to rob a warehouse and sell its contents.

Ardent fans of “Star Wars,” their intended target houses memorabilia and merchandise from the movies that are worth millions. Each in his 30s, the friends struggle to accept that their lives didn’t turn out the way they had hoped.

Their plan, though, is complicated by one friend’s girlfriend, whose presence not only affects the heist but reveals fissures within the trio’s friendships.

“It’s about what happens to lifelong friendships as we get older and how they change,” Zettelmaier said. “It explores what it means to kind of step up and be there for friends in a time of need.”

The set, which is modeled after a main character’s basement apartment, will feature various pieces of memorabilia from the film series. Though the films heavily influence the play, its content and jokes are inclusive, said Zettelmaier.

“If you know ‘Star Wars’ well, you’ll pick up on little things,” he said. “There’s a lot of cool things up on that stage. Even if you’re not a ‘Star Wars’ fan, anyone who is a fan of anything passionately will get what the play is about.”

“All Childish Things” is one of Zettelmaier’s more popular plays and was written in 2006. Since then, it has been performed several times in theaters across the country. Roustabout’s production is the first time the play has been performed in Michigan in the last seven years.

In preparation for its upcoming run, Zettelmaier revised the script, updating it to reflect recent additions in the “Star Wars” film series. He also sought to make it more accessible to new fans of the film series while delivering a fresh take on the script to previous fans.

“Old fans are going to look at the three guys and see themselves,” Zettelmaier said. “The girlfriend represents new fandom and a new kind of fan.”

Joey Albright, Roustabout’s artistic director, is directing the production. He says Roustabout chose the play back in September due to the resurgence of “Star Wars” and its new generation of fans.

“The Last Jedi,” the second film in the third “Star Wars” trilogy, was released late last year, and a traveling exhibit of “Star Wars” costumes and memorabilia has taken residence at the Detroit Institute of Arts for several weeks. More important-ly, the play will debut only days after “Solo: A Star Wars Story” opens at the box office.

The script selection was strategic and gives the troupe the chance to potentially attract a bigger audience, Albright said, adding that the play is an act of love to the fandom.

Albright particularly likes the script for its theme of friendship and the complexity of the play’s characters.

“They all individually are flawed. They are less mature and responsible for their age, but their friendship is great,” Albright said. “ When the audience leaves, I hope the play makes them want to call one of their old friends.”

Anna Simmons, the production’s producer and sound designer and Roustabout’s managing director, first read the play in 2010 when she was an intern with Zettelmaier. Impressed with the story and its message, she was excited when the troupe decided to perform it.

“It talks a lot about honesty in friendships and having each other’s backs,” Simmons said.

The production also has the distinction of being the recipient of a New Leader Grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Simmons spearheaded a campaign to receive the grant, spending much of February on the process.

“We worked our way to this point,” Simmons said. “It’s like the icing on the cake.”

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